1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to optical disk recording apparatuses and methods, and more particularly to an optical disk recording apparatus and an optical disk recording method which duplicate a compact disk (CD) by reproducing data from the compact disk and writing the data onto an optical disk such as a compact disk recordable (CD-R).
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an optical disk recording apparatus called a CD duplicator has been used to duplicate a CD by reproducing data from the compact disk and writing the data onto a CD-R.
The compact disk is recorded with subcodes such as a track number (TNO), an index number, a relative time (an elapsed time in a track), and an absolute time corresponding to an address in addition to main information such as music programs. Usually, a value of the index number (an index value) is 0 for a few seconds right before the start of each track corresponding to a movement, and thereafter is sequentially incremented, for instance, at a pause between sections.
The conventional CD duplicator shortens a time spent in making a duplication of the CD by leaving out the reading of the index number included in the above-described subcodes, which number is not related to the main information and is not utilized so often. The conventional CD duplicator sets the index value to 0 with respect to each two seconds right before the start of each track and to 1 with respect to each track after each two seconds provided with the index value 0. The index values are then written to the CD-R. The absolute time (address) of the start of each track is read but from TOC (Table of Contents) recorded as index information in the lead-in area of the CD, which area is located closest to the center thereof.
In a conventional CD, a silent part, or a pause, is interposed between each two tracks (movements), and the index value 0 is set in the pause. Therefore, if a specified track is reproduced by a conventional reproduction apparatus, the reproduction is stopped when the index value 0 is detected at the end of the track.
However, in a CD recorded with no pause between any two tracks due to a live recording, the part of a track having the last index value XX, which is a value other than 0, is followed by a part of the subsequent track having the index value 1 without the index value 0 being set in between any two tracks. Therefore, if such a CD having no pause is duplicated by the conventional CD duplicator, a duplicate CD-R is obtained with the index value being set to 0 for each two seconds right before the start of each track, or each last two seconds of a track preceding each track.
Therefore, in the case of reproducing a specified track, or a movement, of this CD-R, which track is followed by a subsequent track without a pause interposed therebetween, by the conventional reproduction apparatus, the last two seconds of the track, is not reproduced, thus preventing a listener from listening to a part of the movement corresponding to the last two seconds.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an optical disk recording apparatus and an optical disk recording method in which the above-described disadvantage is eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an optical disk recording apparatus and an optical disk recording method which prevent a time spent in duplication from getting longer and duplicate a CD so that at a time of reproducing a specified track, the last part of the track is reproducible.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by an optical disk recording apparatus for recording a main information signal reproduced from a first optical disk on a second optical disk, which apparatus includes a first part which set an address of a start point of each of tracks of the first optical disk and an address of a position ahead of the start point by a predetermined period of time, a second part which searches a part between the start point and the position ahead of the start point of each of the tracks for an address within a range where each of index values included in subcodes reproduced with the main information signal is zero, and a third part which, with respect to each of the tracks, sets the index values within the range to zero and index values other than the index values within the range to a predetermined value other than zero, and records the index values on the second optical disk together with the main information signal.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a method of recording a main information signal reproduced from a first optical disk on a second optical disk, which method includes the steps of (a) setting an address of a start point of each of tracks of the first optical disk and an address of a position ahead of the start point by a predetermined period of time, (b) searching a part between the start point and the position ahead of the start point of each of the tracks for an address within a range where each of index values included in subcodes reproduced with the main information signal is zero, and (c) setting, with respect to each of the tracks, the index values within the range to zero and index values other than the index values within the range to a predetermined value other than zero and recording the index values on the second optical disk together with the main information signal.
The above-described apparatus and method can minimizes a time required to read out the indexes from a source optical disk, thus preventing a time required to duplicate the source optical disk from getting longer. Further, the above-described apparatus and method can duplicate the source optical disk so that a duplicate has no part of an index value 0 in between each two tracks, or movements, if the source CD includes no pause in between each two tracks. Therefore, in the case of reproducing a specified track, the last part of the track is reproducible.